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Fritz Weineck
Friedrich August Weineck, better known as Fritz Weineck, was a horn player and a Great War veteran who was murdered by members of the far-right Organisation Consul at a gathering of the Roter Frontkämpferbund. The incident is commemorated every year on 1 February in the Socialist Republic of Germany, and Weineck in particular became a martyr and a national symbol. Weineck became known as The Little Trumpeter (German: Der kleine Trompeter), after the title of the song dedicated to him. Early Life Weineck was born in Glaucha, a predominantly working-class district of Halle, Germany. He became a broom-maker and, later, a soldier in the Great War, where he was wounded. In 1919 he joined the side of the Reds in the German Civil War, where he distinguished himself in combat in the Second Battle of Berlin. After the Civil War he married Meta Dietze and had a child with her. In 1924 he joined the Roter Frontkämpferbund (RFB), the paramilitary wing of the Communist Party of Germany. He became a member of the marching band of the RFB and learned to play the horn. Murder Roter Frontkämpferbund leader Ernst Thälmann held a rally in Halle on 1 February 1925 as part of a wider campaign to gather support for the KPD. While a group of French socialist exiles were speaking, two armed gunmen belonging to the right-wing militant group Organisation Consul entered the building. One of the gunmen, Karl Erhard, disguised himself as an RFB member and concealed an MP 18 submachine gun. His accomplice, Rüdiger Koch, concealed a Luger pistol. Both were Great War veterans. Erhard distanced himself from the crowd and then unconcealed his firearm and fired wildly and indiscriminately on the crowd. Koch, from another angle of the room, fired off two shots, of which one missed, before his pistol jammed, and he was forced to flee. Erhard fired off a full magazine before being charged by multiple RFB members. He was disarmed, restrained, and then fatally shot in the head before authorities could arrive. Koch was identified by multiple witnesses and was found two days later by the regional militia, who narrowly prevented him from being executed by a group of RFB members. He died in prison from pneumonia in 1928. 8 people were killed and 19 wounded in the attack. 3 victims were killed immediately while the rest died during medical treatment. Among them was Weineck who, due to his youth and local popularity, became a martyr. Over 50,000 residents attended his funeral, and most city functions halted for the day. The Great War song, Von allen Kameraden, was rewritten with lyrics about Weineck and the RFB, and became known as Der kleine Trompeter. Weineck has been honored in other ways as well: * 1 February is a national holiday known as "Fritz Weineck Day". * A statue of Weineck was erected in 1930 in Halle. * One of the role model figures of the Free Socialist Youth is Weineck. * The youth wing of the RFB, the Rote Jungfront, has Der kleine Trompeter as a secondary official anthem. * A number of streets, buildings and squares in the FSRD are named after Weineck.